Cisco UCS B260 Series Replacement — What Cisco Recommends
Cisco support for the Cisco UCS B260 Series has ended for some part numbers (last group runs to Dec 2022) — unsupported units need a plan. Cisco's own end-of-life bulletin names the successor below — quoted from the source, with the successor's live support status where EOSL.ai tracks it.
The Cisco-named replacement
per-part mapping in the bulletin (13 replacement parts listed) — named in the Cisco EOL bulletin ↗ as the migration path.
per-part mapping in the bulletin (10 replacement parts listed) — named in the Cisco EOL bulletin ↗ as the migration path.
UCSB-EX-M4-3 and UCSB-EX-M4-2 are not yet tracked on EOSL.ai — no vendor end-of-life notice has been captured for them, which is typical of current products.
Cisco UCS B260 Series lifecycle dates
| SKU group | End of sale | EOSL / last support | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Switch hardware | Dec 2017 | Dec 2022 | bulletin ↗ |
| Switch hardware | Apr 2017 | Apr 2022 | bulletin ↗ |
Per-part-number replacement mapping (20)
As listed in the Cisco bulletin's migration table for each part number.
| End-of-life part | Description | Bulletin-listed replacement |
|---|---|---|
| UCSB-EX-M4-2 | UCSB-EX-M4-3 / UCSB-B480-M5 | |
| UCSB-EX-M4-2A | UCSB-EX-M4-3A / UCSB-B480-M5 | |
| UCSB-EX-M4-2A-CH | UCSB-EX-M4-3A-CH / UCSB-B480-M5-CH | |
| UCSB-EX-M4-2A-U | UCSB-EX-M4-3A-U / UCSB-B480-M5-U | |
| UCSB-EX-M4-2B | UCSB-EX-M4-3B / UCSB-B480-M5 | |
| UCSB-EX-M4-2B-CH | UCSB-EX-M4-3B-CH / UCSB-B480-M5-CH | |
| UCSB-EX-M4-2C | UCSB-EX-M4-3C / UCSB-B480-M5 | |
| UCSB-EX-M4-2C-CH | UCSB-EX-M4-3C-CH / UCSB-B480-M5-CH | |
| UCSB-EX-M4-2C-U | UCSB-EX-M4-3C-U / UCSB-B480-M5-U | |
| UCSB-EX-M4-2E-U | UCSB-EX-M4-3E-U / UCSB-B480-M5-U | |
| UCSB-EX-M4-1 | UCSB-EX-M4-2 | |
| UCSB-EX-M4-1A | UCSB-EX-M4-3A | |
| UCSB-EX-M4-1A-CH | UCSB-EX-M4-3A-CH | |
| UCSB-EX-M4-1A-U | UCSB-EX-M4-3A-U | |
| UCSB-EX-M4-1B | UCSB-EX-M4-3B | |
| UCSB-EX-M4-1B-CH | UCSB-EX-M4-2B-CH | |
| UCSB-EX-M4-1C | UCSB-EX-M4-3C | |
| UCSB-EX-M4-1C-CH | UCSB-EX-M4-3C-CH | |
| UCSB-EX-M4-1C-U | UCSB-EX-M4-3C-U | |
| UCSB-EX-M4-1E-U | UCSB-EX-M4-2E-U |
Migration questions
What is the replacement for the Cisco UCS B260 Series?
Cisco's end-of-life bulletin names UCSB-EX-M4-3 and UCSB-EX-M4-2 as the recommended migration path for the Cisco UCS B260 Series. The exact wording and any per-part-number mapping are in the linked bulletin.
Is the Cisco UCS B260 Series end of life?
Cisco support for the Cisco UCS B260 Series has ended for some part numbers (last group runs to Dec 2022) — unsupported units need a plan. Full lifecycle dates by part number: https://eosl.ai/system/cisco-ucs-b260/.
Is there a per-part-number replacement mapping for the B260 Series?
Yes — the bulletin maps replacements at the part-number level for 20 SKUs (for example UCSB-EX-M4-2 → UCSB-EX-M4-3 / UCSB-B480-M5). The full table is on this page.
Do I have to buy the Cisco-recommended replacement?
No. The bulletin's named successor is Cisco's suggested path, not an obligation. Teams also keep B260 Series units running under third-party maintenance after the support cutoff, migrate to a different vendor, or run low-criticality units to failure with the risk documented. See the support-options guide for the trade-offs.